Re: +shers

[Steve Weintraub <dancinsteve...>]

Ari:

In the instance that I stated, it was the source's recollection that only
one tune was used. Like I said, that seems a bit boring, but it was how it
was done at one time and place.  I suspect that the habit of mixing tunes
might have started with the popularity of the quadrille in the 19th century,
which had 5 distinct sections with pauses between, and 5 distinct tunes.
There were many quadrille choreographies, and many tunes, consequently.
(Helen Winkler has an interesting reference to klezmers playing a quadrille
in one of her Yizkor book references- "the ruined wedding")

I recall Hankus Netsky remarking at Klezkamp that he heard an older musician
state that whenever the "promenade" happened (either the couples, or the
circling) the musicians always played the same tune.  Since the sher doesn't
seem to have been called, some musical cue is helpful to the dancers to keep
their place. Multiple tunes can certainly be played, but they ought to be
played in sets that correspond to the dance, it seems to me.

And Adrienne- if you have a set of tunes you like, I think in this day and
age its "kosher" to cobble together a sher version that fits it, provided
that the phrase structure doesn't vary.  It means being canny with repeats,
or no repeats.

-Steve W.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ari Davidow" <ari (at) ivritype(dot)com>
To: "World music from a Jewish slant" <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2003 8:39 PM
Subject: Re: +shers


>
> >So- what are we to do?  I'm going to teach the "Workman's Circle" sher at
> >Klezkamp, and insist that the musicians follow the dance. (Its not very
> >hard to figure out- 6 x 16 bars). For any other version, I think its
> >important for the teacher to work with the musicians on tunes that will
> >fit that version.
>
>
>
> Steve,
>
> I hope it's obvious that musicians do need to follow the dance (or perhaps
> not - else how did it become an issue!). This is partly what Deborah was
> talking about on Monday night. But I think you are wrong about repeating
> the same tune over and over. Zev Feldman was pretty clear that variations
> were common, and that there were several examples of this - the one Zev,
> Jeff, and Deborah played was a particularly rich set from Philly. From my
> notes (attempts to transcribe as people talked):
>
> "These are the Morris Fried shers. He was a klezmer in Philadelphia. Shers
> were meant to be medlies of short tunes. This is the best. This is a
> klezmer classic. This is peculiar because from Byelorussia, not from the
> south whence comes most klezmer music."
>
> Then, just before they began to play, as Zev waves his hand, as though at
> the head of a line dance, I got this jist from Deborah (and is what I was
> trying to remember, earlier, when I posted about the event to the list
this
> afternoon):
>
> "I have to say a couple of things. For one thing, we got our beat by
> watching Zev moved his hand in dance rhythm. This was a revelation to me
> because we so often play them too fast. Zev reminds us to play this to
> dance. And the second thing, which is related, is that we used to just
play
> each section, then go on to the next. And as we rehearsed we have learned
> that these don't just go from one to the other - they must fit to the
beat,
> and where the dance is."
>
> So, yes on fitting the dance, but yes, also, on having many variations -- 
> which makes sense. Rhythms should stay the same for as long as the dance
> goes on, but it is the variations that make it fun for the musicians (and
> the dancers, I think, but I am a much better listener than dancer). And,
of
> course, by sliding into a new rhythm the band moves the participants from
> one dance to the next.
>
> ari
>
>
> Ari Davidow
> ari (at) ivritype(dot)com
> list owner, jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> the klezmer shack: http://www.klezmershack.com/
>
>

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